[alevin16]

Hello All

As I mentioned in a previous post I believe Holler Honda here in Florida screwed up my 2000 Insight when they fixed the clutch. They refuse to do anything claiming they did nothing (but I saw someone post the exact same scenario from 2017). Anyway, the car will not charge when driving or stopping and if the engine goes into autostop it will stall on the restart when I press the clutch in. The little battery died while it has been sitting and I was concerned that the little battery will keep dying because it is not like there is an alternator in the car. I was thinking that maybe I could convert the car to a plug-in (I really love the car), I know that is not cheap, but it may be a cool project. So here are my questions:

1. If I am successful in converting it to a plug-in, and I charge the battery overnight, will that keep the little battery charged? The IMA light is on now and I am wondering if even if I was able to charge the large battery pack would it charge the little battery or does the IMA issue prevent any exchange of power?
2. Should I not bother and just try to sell it? Is it even worth anything?

Any advice is helpful!
Andy

 

[retepsnikrep]

It certainly worth quite a lot even broken. It will be an easy fix for members on here.

Read the IMA codes and post them, then we can offer accurate advice.

 

[alevin16]

I had a mechanic stop by and the only codes he saw were O2 sensors. Would that cause the issue? (I cannot see how but who knows). How would I pull them? DO I bring it to a Car Parts place? THANKS!

 

[retepsnikrep]

Read up on blink codes on here and do that process.

 

[Balto]

I wonder if they just didn't connect both the grounds, or they broke during removal, and instead of eating the cost for new ones, they just left them off.

 

[alevin16]

I wonder if they just didn't connect both the grounds, or they broke during removal, and instead of eating the cost for new ones, they just left them off.

WHat do you mean? Is that something I could get in there and fix?

 

[*sean*]

@alevin16, I'll address the title of your post, "Should I keep or sell".

Read through this thread, with a very similar title: "Bad IMA- Grid charge? Replace? Sell? Looking for advice." Here is person with a major problem is asking the very same question.

You might expect your thread to go into the level of diagnosis that the poster performed with the help of the forum on that thread. It ends with the diagnosis of a broken camshaft which requires a minimum of a cylinder head replacement. This would be a good time to ask yourself, "knowing this, would I have kept or sold that car"?

Next take a look at this thread, "My daily driver is now my project car! (Engine replacement after camshaft failure)". By now you should know the experience level of the poster with respect to car repair - not much. Yet she devoured all the information they could to do the job right and successfully did an engine swap, including all the little systems stuff that goes with it. Yep, it's not hard, it just takes gumption, a place to work, and a little encouragement.

Do you have the gumption and a place where you can do something like drop a transmission?

For my part, I'll say that you're already here so yeah you have the gumption and for the encouragement part, you are willing to post and take steps to fix the car so YEAH you can do this.

It is doubtful that you will need an engine replacement, but in the worst case they may have damaged an IMA sensor that would require you dropping the transmission to access and replace. Not an engine swap, but that, and fixing all the the other little things that could be wrong could take months. To get to that point you're going to have to do more work and diagnosis and probably fix some other things.

And even if this particular problem turns out to be an easy fix, this is an old car and you can expect a number of issues each year that need to be addressed, some of them requiring you to find another set of wheels or more while you get parts, learn how to do the job, etc.

Are you ready to join us nuts at InsightCentral who love to do this and get a great amount of satisfaction doing so, and have a second Insight (or other car) we can drive when we're working on the other?

If so, the answer is "keep the car".

Whether you decide to jump in and keep this car or sell it and buy another, you need to set your expecations about financial outlay: if you don't budget at least half of a car payment you would have spent on a new car towards your "used car repair fund" - drawing a little for the frequent little things, and drawing a lot for the infrequent big things" - you will be disappointed with any car you get. The Insight, once you start doing your own work, even if you own two of them, you will find the total cost of ownership for both is probably going to be about half to one car payment of a new car each month, in other words, relatively low compared to other cars (were gas prices lower, this equation might change).

A shout-out to @CherryBomb so that she can comment about whether she would do it again or if she would have sold it and moved on.

 

[alevin16]

This was some response! It is a lot to think about. I do not have a way to drop the transmission thought which is probably the biggest problem. That is why I was curious if I gave it the ability to plug in and charge would that circumvent the issue of it not charging while braking? This is only a commuter car so it does not go on long trips (and I live in Florida so there are no such things as hills here ) If an Insight with IMA showing would still charge the little battery I would consider taking on the task. Do you know if that is the case? If I keep the large battery charged via a plug in will they keep the little battery alive even if the IMA is on?

 

[Willie Williford]

Get a 12V monitor gauge to plug into the cig. lighter socket.